


fool's mate

by kuribuddy (rikacain)



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-30
Updated: 2017-09-30
Packaged: 2019-01-07 06:52:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12227811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rikacain/pseuds/kuribuddy
Summary: "It's not the King that you wanted," the AI murmured, as Yugi made his way out of the room and further into the space station. "But I suppose silver would have to do."





	fool's mate

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Stalemate](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11147904) by [duelmepharaoh (captain_indigo)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/captain_indigo/pseuds/duelmepharaoh), [mooguriklaine](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mooguriklaine/pseuds/mooguriklaine). 



> Inspired by duelmepharaoh's fic Stalemate, which you definitely have to read first. At least, read the first chapter first because it prolly diverges.
> 
> I wrote, ran out of steam, and decided to post this up anyway.

Yugi really, really shouldn’t be up here.

He’s heard about it of course - Kaiba Corporation’s space station, the only one to connect to Earth using a space elevator. Normal people had to pay millions and launch a rocket to get themselves to their orbiting space station; Seto Kaiba only had to pay trillions and step into an elevator before getting himself up into his space station.

It’s not that the space station was just nothing - he vaguely remembers skimming past articles lauding the supposed strength of the construction materials, and the science behind how the station kept itself in geosynchronous orbit, whatever that meant. His scientific knowledge extended only to what was taught in high school, his interest outside of keeping up his grades was minimal. While he was vaguely impressed by the KC space elevator, it was in the way people were impressed by the tallest buildings in the world - remarkable, but not exciting.

Wait, was the space station now the tallest building? It had a foundation on the ground, after all. But he’s seen clickbait articles saying that it wasn’t a building but a structure -

Shaking his head, Yugi turned his attention back to the worker in front of him. Now wasn’t the time to think about the space station - it was time to think about Kaiba, who Mokuba was very worried about. It had been a month since his brother had come down from the space station, since he was last seen, and Mokuba had tried calling down the elevator to no avail. No communications had come from above - no orders, no informing, nothing - almost as if the space station itself had been cut off from the ground control.

But that was ridiculous, Mokuba had scoffed, a pale imitation of his normal haughty scoff in the face of his brother’s absence. Being the vice president of the massive Kaiba Corporation was nothing less than taxing, requiring his full attention - and despite his otherwise impeccable appearance, it showed. His brother had cut off the space station for some reason and he'll be back with some new invention to dangle before the world, the boy had further assured, though Yugi wasn’t sure whether he was assuring Yugi or himself. Perhaps both.

But just to motivate him, maybe Yugi could go up to the space station. Just to remind him. 

“Not that I won’t,” Yugi had said. Kaiba may not consider him a friend, but Yugi did consider him one. He also considered that Kaiba should be more willing to listen to his own brother instead of his rival - that is, if he still considered Yugi his rival. 

The challenges had dropped off almost immediately after Atem pass- after Atem left. He could put it down to both of them becoming busier, with Kaiba’s company and Yugi helping out at the game store. He could put it down to focusing on his grades, focusing on his friends, focusing on anything else until the empty space in his mind became less painful to bear - but if he really thought about it….

Which he didn’t. He didn’t want to and didn’t need to.

(In some places, Atem’s shadow stretched longer than his own.)

“But why me?” He continued. “I’m probably someone he doesn’t want to see.”

“At this point, he doesn’t want to see anyone,” Mokuba pointed out wryly, but explained soon enough. “I have to look after the company, it’s my responsibility. And sending in someone who’s just going to listen to the man giving them their paycheck is just a waste of time. I need someone he considers an equal, and you’re the closest to that.”

“And hey.” Mokuba then smiled, a shade of mischief coloring his grin. “If you fail, you can’t be fired, right?”

So here he was, up in the tallest building- structure- building- whatever in the world, waiting for Fudo-san to cut a hole into the side of the shaft, right up near the top. Apparently there was a holding space encircling the elevator shaft that held the bulk of the water storage system that Yugi could get into, after which he could then find his way up into the main floor using a security hatch. After that, all he had to do was find Kaiba, remind him he had a brother and a company, and then travel down using the elevator.

Simple enough. If Yugi could tell himself that enough times, maybe he’d believe it.

“Mutou-san, are you sure you don’t want me to wait for you?” The other man asked after the slab of metal fell away into the room. It had taken him a good three hours, even with the laser drill on its highest setting. His phone had been confiscated by ground control for security purposes; he had whiled away the time by sorting and shuffling and re-sorting his deck. If only the guards knew how much damage cards could do, in the right or wrong hands. “The Solid Vision projector can hold up for another ten hours if you want me to.”

“It’s fine.” Yugi smiled at the man. “You’ve been up here for so long, you should take a break downstairs. I’ve always wanted to ride the elevator anyway.”

“If you say so.” Fudo waved him into the hole, and Yugi went. He stepped gingerly over the burnt outlines and into the room, before turning back to look at the other man. After a few taps on the projector, the platform began moving downwards, bringing Fudo with him.

“Good luck, Mutou-san,” the other man called out as his descent began to accelerate.

They both knew that he would need it.

Yugi watched as Fudo became little more than a speck in the distance of the tube, after which he had to stop watching before the vertigo got to him. He sighed into the muted silence of the space, pulled out the headset Mokuba gave him and positioned it near his temple. The pink light flared bright in the dim lighting.

“Mokuba?” He said out loud, walking further into the room and away from the elevator shaft. Huge, humming machines lined the walls, with pipes running and branching off into several directions. If anything, the machines reassured Yugi - because if the space station was still operable, then Kaiba should be fine.

“Yugi.” Mokuba immediately answered, his voice crisp and distinct over the headset. “I take it you’re in?”

“Still in the basement.” Yugi grimaced at his inaccurate words - if this was the basement, then what was the ground floor? Sub-basement two thousand and twenty? He skirted around what seemed to be the water tank, enormous enough to be a wall of its own. “I see the hatch.”

“Good.” There was a momentary silence as Yugi made his way to and up the ladder. He reached out an arm to push at the hatch, to no avail - a quick glance around also told him there was no place for him to enter a code. “Mokuba? There isn’t a keypad.”

“Of course there isn’t,” Mokuba said, his tone a shade between amusement and exasperation. “It’s voice activated. Say ‘Manual override MK1016, on voice activation proxy MK4181.”

“Okay.” Yugi repeated the code, feeling only the slightest bit silly - but honestly, this was nothing compared to the few times his friends had caught him talking to his other self back then.

There was a beep.

‘Code rejected.’ A female voice replied.

“What,” Mokuba said incredulously, reminding Yugi of his brother. There was a few moments of silence of what it could mean for Kaiba to revoke his brother's override codes. “T-Try it again.”

“Sure,” Yugi said hastily. “Manual override MK1016-"

Barely after the last digit, there was another beep. Yugi braced himself for disappointment.

'Code accepted.'

And suddenly the hatch was rising, shining a spotlight onto Yugi’s face. He squinted against the sudden brightness, fighting the urge to raise his hands which were still clamped to the ladder, choosing instead to clamber up into the brightly lit room. A quick glance led him to the exit, which opened up into a corridor. A corridor that curved and stretched to both sides, neither end in sight; a corridor that had glass for its outer walls, which revealed the Earth in its full glory, slowly spinning on its axis. 

“Well, Mokuba,” Yugi said. “I’m in.”

* * *

The space station was quiet, but not silent - there was the hum of the machines below Yugi’s feet, similar to the basement’s but muted. His headset was silent at the moment, Mokuba having taken the opportunity to deal with ‘a mountain of paperwork’ and asking (ordering) Yugi to alert him when he’s found his brother. The younger boy had also left Yugi a map, which projected itself from the headset in glowing blue outlines in the corner of Yugi’s field of vision, leaving Yugi to feel rather like he’s in an RPG. At any moment, he'd see the text: 'You’ve accepted ‘ _Find Kaiba’ quest from NPC Mokuba! Follow the marker to complete your mission_!' 

There really was a marker after all, and it led him out of the glass corridor and into a series of offices. To be honest, he didn’t quite know what he had expected to find on a space station - perhaps people floating around in astronaut suits, or everything being bolted down to the floor in an effort to fight against zero-gravity. But all the rooms he walked through were surprisingly normal. The furniture seemed movable (okay, fine, it was movable, Yugi had 'accidentally' bumped into a table as he walked past and it moved, so.) If it hadn’t been for the constant reminder of the windows showcasing the vast and empty space outside, he would have thought that he was in an average Japanese office. 

( _Average_ , the Kaiba in his head sneered in affront. _Hah_!) 

The quietness of the place nevertheless unsettled him, reminding him with every thud of his boots that he shouldn’t be here.

_Mokuba gave you permission_ , Yugi valiantly tried to remind himself. _Kaiba would obviously think you shouldn’t be here, but that’s the point. You’re doing this for Mokuba._

With that thought in mind, he pressed on deeper into the space station. Mokuba had told him that he would probably find his brother in one of the labs. Apparently, the last computer logs received from the space station reported that Kaiba had been working on his dueling A.I. in the biggest virtual simulation lab, and that was exactly where Yugi’s marker was planted. Yugi figured that the A.I. was probably for the Duel Links system that Kaiba Corporation had just released, even if Mokuba had been rather tight-lipped on the matter. He couldn’t fathom what else it could be for. 

Well, it really didn't matter. Even if he sees the A.I., he couldn't do anything with that information. Maybe tell Rebecca, who would get affronted that she wasn't working on it first. 

Genius children, really. 

After ten minutes of walking (during which Yugi debated with himself whether to call out for Kaiba, getting ready to shout his rival's name, realising that if anything Kaiba would probably avoid him instead and ultimately deciding to not call out for Kaiba), he finally reached the marked room. A quick glance at the glass windows revealed only darkness, a startling contrast to the well-lit corridors he had been traversing. Perhaps the lab was closed and Kaiba was in some other room...?

But perhaps Kaiba somehow knew Yugi was here, and had turned off the lights in an attempt to make him think he wasn't there. He wouldn't put it past Kaiba to have a security system that alerted him when someone came into the space station, or to dissuade someone he didn't want to meet from meeting him. But Kaiba wouldn’t avoid someone for the sake of avoiding someone, because he was Kaiba Seto and he was afraid of no one - 

It really didn’t do to argue himself in circles. At any rate, he might as well check inside, just in case, and then venture elsewhere in search of Kaiba. The worst that could happen was a couple minutes wasted.

His mind made up, Yugi stepped up to the door. The map flickered before shifting to display a password Mokuba left for him, probably.

"VR1-108," Yugi reads aloud. 

The door opened.

* * *

"Seto."

The cables shift around him, tightening in some places and loosening in others. He lets his body sag into the new distribution of his bonds, lets his captor think that he was asleep. Maybe the AI would leave him alone for some time, leave him an opening. 

"We have a guest, Seto."

There was the nascency of a reaction - perhaps of alarm, because of 'what ifs' and 'could it bes' - a reaction he crushed ruthlessly under his metaphorical heel. The advantage he had here was inscrutability, of a poker face and playing what little cards he had close to his chest. The AI had yet to be able to infiltrate his thoughts, to break him, and it was unlikely to, not without losing the codes and trapping itself in the space station for the next decade. 

He has lost the battle, but he could win the war. His victory could come either in form of an escape or in his willpower to resist the AI's cajoling. He just had to endure. 

A sigh. There was the light footfall of a boot, once, twice - sounds that he programmed himself - before it stopped in front of him. Something cool brushed his face, as if it was a hand - but Kaiba knew better. 

(But not enough.)

"Wake up, Seto," the AI whispered. If he imagined, he could almost feel the breath skimming across the shell of his ear. He was tempted. 

Kaiba slowly opened his eyes. 

Atem stood in front of him, his hand drawing away from Kaiba's face. His eyes stared into Kaiba's own, reflecting the charade of amusement, and a smirk curled at his lips.

Everything, Kaiba had programmed. Kaiba only had to remember that. 

"Good morning," Atem greeted him. The forty-sixth 'good morning', Kaiba noted mentally. The actual time was unknown - Kaiba knew better than to rely on his captor to provide him with an accurate sense of time.

"What do you want," Kaiba bit out tersely. The less interaction he had with Atem, the better - though he was clearly not in control of that matter. 

"We have a guest, Seto," Atem repeated. "Don't you want to see who?"

"And why would I care?" Kaiba sneered. 

"It could be your savior. Or maybe even your brother."

"Mokuba knows better," Kaiba snapped.   His brother wouldn't disturb him if he thought Seto was busy, and would manage the company in his stead. "And I don't need a savior. I'll save myself."

"Brave words," Atem commended. The wires shifted yet again, sliding against his skin; a reminder. "Are you making progress?"

"Plenty."

Atem hummed. A screen popped up behind him, displaying what Kaiba recognised to be the service hatch leading to the water storage system of the space station. 

"What is this."

"I want to know who's coming to save you," Atem smiled. "I'm curious to know your knight in shining armour - who my opponent will be. Maybe military operatives. Perhaps your brother. Or..."

A wire strokes down his side, curling and binding him closer to the wall.

"The King of Games himself," Atem mocks gently, holding that hope in front of Kaiba on a string. "My namesake and the one whom you want to see the most, hm?"

Kaiba doesn't answer. Anything he had to say would be an unconvincing lie. 

"We'll see," Atem turned around to look at the screen, even though Kaiba knew damn well he didn't have to. The hatch slowly rose, and a pale hand rose up from the darkness. 

Then the tips of a hairstyle he knew all too well. 

His hopes rose -

And fell, as he recognised Mutou Yugi, the official King of Games, the vessel of the Pharaoh, and the one who was left behind. The one whose place Kaiba should have taken, he should have sent off the Pharaoh with his own hands because Atem, the real Atem, would have probably gone easy on his own partner. 

(Lie, lie, lie, something whispers; something he doesn’t want to look at, something he ignores.)

He recognised the dueling headset he had developed for Atem for their future duels. Mokuba must have sent Yugi to talk to Kaiba, but why?

"It's not the King that you wanted," the AI murmured, as Yugi made his way out of the room and further into the space station. "But I suppose silver would have to do."

**Author's Note:**

> that's it folks - other shenanigans include kaiba rather blowing up the elevator chute than let AI Atem get out but if only i had more willpower to actually w r i t e
> 
> thanks and goodbye


End file.
